"THE MEMBERS OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF HAVE PENNED A ..."

The members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have penned a ...

The Unreadiness Iceberg The members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have penned a 28-star letter to Congress warning that the U.S. military is at a ?tipping point? in the face of future budgetary reductions and uncertainty. The chiefs paint a grim picture of a post-sequestration military, arguing that they will have to ?ground aircraft, return ships to port, and stop driving combat vehicles in training.? While that is supposedly a consequence of the future, today?s outlook doesn?t sound any better: Not enough people, not enough parts, not enough training, not enough everything. Those were the blunt words of the admiral in charge of the surface fleet this week. He went on to note how demand has only grown while resources have gone down even though the new defense strategy, issued just last year, indicated otherwise. Think the ?hollow force? is only something that could happen if policymakers plow ahead with sequestration? Not according to the admiral: When a combatant commander says a ship?s supposed to leave on deployment and it doesn?t leave on time for whatever reason, then we know we?ve probably gotten there [a hollow force]. And there?s ships right now that aren?t doing it. Unfortunately, this is no surprise. By the time a problem this deep bubbles up to the Joint Chiefs, it is often beyond obvious to the military?s daily operators. Problems plaguing reduced readiness levels for sustained periods of time are typically masked or in hibernation due to Band-Aid fixes before they show real and clear consequences. Even when it appears as if the force is healthy on paper, maintainers and operators using equipment on a daily basis often cannibalize parts to patch up ships, vehicles or aircraft to let them last another day or, worse, get notice of deferred or cancelled maintenance after leaders perpetually underfund regular upkeep to make up for shortfalls elsewhere. Former Army chief of staff George Casey previously referred to an invisible ?red line? of readiness that is often not detected by senior leaders until much later (or, in some cases, too late). Retired general